Alt Investments
Bank Of Singapore And iCapital Launch Alternative Investment Digital Platform
The collaboration boosts the bank’s ambitions to grow its financial intermediaries, family office and wealth advisory business by 50 per cent by 2026.
The Bank of Singapore has teamed up with global fintech firm iCapital to launch an alternative investment digital platform – FIM Alternatives Select – dedicated to the bank’s financial intermediary partners, also known as independent asset managers.
This initiative will help Bank of Singapore’s ambition to grow its financial intermediaries, family office, and wealth advisory (FFWA) assets under management by 50 per cent over the period of 2024 to 2026, the firm said in a statement.
iCapital is a fintech firm that connects wealth managers and their advisors and clients to hedge funds, private equity firms and other alternative asset managers via its technology platform. As of September 2024, assets invested through iCapital’s platform have surpassed $200 billion. The platform provides access to over 1,600 funds from over 600 asset managers. Global alternatives managers are among those who distribute their funds via iCapital’s platforms.
In Asia, asset managers and investment solution platforms, like iCapital, provide alternative investment solutions to financial intermediaries, ultra-high and high net worth individuals through private banks. By doing so, they can benefit from the economies of scale in terms of reach and efficiency. Typically, private banks market two to six alternative funds annually.
Initially, close to 30 funds will be made available from asset managers such as KKR, The Caryle Group and Apollo via FIM Alternatives Select, with more funds to be added in future, the firm continued.
Bank of Singapore is the first private bank in Asia to provide a platform of this scale for financial intermediaries. These funds span a broad spectrum of investment strategies, structures, sectors and geographies, allowing the bank’s financial intermediary partners and their clients to express their investment views and requirements more clearly.
FIM Alternatives Select will also equip the bank’s financial intermediary partners with due diligence reports and tools, provided by iCapital, to evaluate and access a range of alternative investment opportunities via the digital platform. This empowers financial intermediaries to build diversified investment portfolios that include alternative assets across private equity, private credit, real assets and hedge funds to meet their high and ultra-high net worth clients’ investment objectives more effectively. At the same time, the platform provides access to post-investment tools such as fund reports and performance updates for financial intermediaries to monitor their positions.
Interest in alternative investments is on the rise as investors seek to diversify their portfolios, mitigate risk and deliver more consistent income and returns, according to the bank. The private capital database provider Preqin estimates that the global alternatives industry is poised to exceed $30 trillion in assets under management by 2030, up from $16.8 trillion at the end of 2023. Notably, Bank of Singapore has seen a strong momentum in alternative investments – as of September 2024, the financial intermediary segment recorded nearly 30 per cent year-on-year growth in invested assets.
The financial intermediary segment is also one of the fastest growing segments in Bank of Singapore. Assets under management for the bank’s financial intermediary clients grew at a compounded annual growth rate of about 20 per cent in the period of 2019 to 2023. FIM Alternatives Select is the latest in a series of efforts to sharpen the bank’s value proposition for this client segment.
Earlier this year, the bank created a specialised unit to serve its financial intermediary partners. The unit, reporting to head of financial intermediaries Annabelle Chow, comprises relationship managers and investment specialists dedicated to this segment. Its headcount has grown by 30 per cent since the start of the year. Products and solutions are specially tailored to this segment with technology being a key component, the firm said.
“Geopolitical tensions are expected to continue and create more volatile market conditions. Investors need to be nimble in accessing the whole spectrum of solutions available, including alternative investments which can potentially diversify investment risks. With FIM Alternatives Select, we are making it easier for financial intermediaries to augment the strength of their client portfolios with alternative investment opportunities and achieve their wealth objectives,” Vivienne Chia, global head, investment solutions group at Bank of Singapore, said.
“This underscores the growing importance of alternative investments for wealth managers as they increasingly make alternatives a key component of a diversified client portfolio, enhancing financial outcomes for their clients,” Marco Bizzozero, head of international at iCapital, added.
Headquartered in Singapore, Bank of Singapore serves high net worth individuals and wealthy families in its key markets of Asia, Greater China, the Indian subcontinent and other international markets. Together with its subsidiaries, it has offices in the Dubai International Financial Centre, Hong Kong, London, Malaysia and Manila.